El Grec raises the curtain defying gravity

BarcelonaOpening night and nerves—the good kind—on Montjuïc mountain. "Anything can go wrong at any moment," warned acrobat and stage designer Yoann Bourgeois at the presentation of The Little Circus, the contemporary circus offering that opened the 49th edition of the Grec Festival this Thursday at the Teatre Grec. Once the show premiered, it was clear that the French artist's caution was not false modesty. The stage design had to work like clockwork so as not to detract from the show's impossible acrobatics. Nothing could go wrong. And it didn't. Created by six artists: Yoann Bourgeois, French singer-songwriter Pomme, and dancer Marie Bourgeois, The little cirque has successfully overcome the challenge of kicking off the Catalan capital's grand showcase of the performing arts.

The work and nerves required to ensure everything went as planned were also evident off stage. Two hours before the premiere, the organizers and staff at the Teatre Grec were preparing the gardens and stands to keep an eye on every last detail. This was Leticia Martín's first inauguration as festival director, replacing Francesc Casadesús, who had directed it for the past eight years. Martín's first Grec festival features 90 shows (nine more than the previous edition) that will span 42 venues in Barcelona until August 4. "I hope that tonight the audience takes away a lot of beauty and tranquility in a very crazy world and that they enjoy a sweet moment," an excited Martín assured ARA before the show began.

Those who enjoyed the kickoff of Barcelona's cultural summer most peacefully were the nearly 2,000 spectators who filled the amphitheater's stands, who, apart from the spectacle, also enjoyed a somewhat less torrid temperature than those experienced this week in the city. "This is the first time I've come to the opening; I think it's very important that the city has spaces for culture, for theater, and for music," said Sira, one of the attendees, who demanded "more affordable" ticket prices.

A broad political display was visible in the Montjuïc Gardens, an oasis where neither the endorsement of the amnesty law nor the military spending demanded by Trump seem to exist. The President of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Salvador Illa, attended with the Minister of Culture, Sònia Hernández Almodóvar. Also present at the opening were the Speaker of the Parliament, Josep Rull, and a large representation of Barcelona City Council, led by the Mayor, Jaume Collboni, one of the first to arrive. The audience also included many well-known faces from the world of culture, such as performers Emma Vilarasau and Jordi Bosch, director of the Miró Foundation, Marko Daniel, and film director Isabel Coixet. Also present were some of the stars of this year's Grec lineup. This includes Oriol Broggi, who directs Lluís Soler in The storm Shakespeare's; by Pau Roca, director of Who killed my father at the Heartbreak Hotel, or the actress Mireia Aixalà, part of the cast of Grand Canyon, which can be seen at La Villarroel this summer.

A living stage

They all applauded the premiere of The little cirque, a proposal for all audiences in the hands of two great architects of circus and dance in Europe, Yoann and Marie Bourgeois, and the singer-songwriter Pomme, who after publishing her album Seasons He was eager to explore new forms of live performance. This is the third time the French circus artist has visited the Grec Festival, after presenting Minute in 2018 and the celebrated Celuy who knocks down in 2023. With The little cirque, an international co-production with Lyon's Les Nuits de Fourvière, has reaffirmed his commitment to creating multidisciplinary art. "We chose this show with the aim of reaching as many people as possible. It marks the beginning of an edition founded on networking," stated Leticia Martín at the festival presentation.

The production, which will also be seen on Friday and Saturday, follows the life of a character in an imaginary world where humanity coexists in harmony with nature. Using a circular, rotating set—inspired by a circus ring—the show explores the cycles of the year through the French artist's live songs adapted for string quartet, grouped into four movements symbolizing the seasons. The musical adaptation is the work of Pauline Denize, the violinist in a female ensemble completed by Camille Garin, Eva Sinclair, and Maïa Collette. On stage, they interact with Marie Bourgeois, Kim Amankawa, Yurié Tsugawa, and Kiley Dolaway, a corps of dancers and acrobats who defy gravity on a stage where humans, nature, and devices of all kinds share the spotlight.